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Real estate has always been, and will continue to be, an industry centered on relationships. As such, real estate professionals are poised to exploit social media to further build relationships and their engagement of sphere of influence. However, many agents use Facebook, Google+, Twitter, Instagram, and the other social media sites merely as platforms of ‘marketing’ – and by that it’s merely spouting listings without any real value to the audience.

Here are a few tips based on observations of social media successes and failures:

Be REAL. Don’t just talk about your latest and greatest listings – that’s a surefire way to get your audience to tune you out. Show your personality, relate to people, and be genuine. Be the real you, for better or for worse (hopefully for the better), and customers will respond accordingly.

Based on responses from over 500 real estate agents and brokers nationwide, referrals ranked as the number one marketing preference among real estate professionals for acquiring new clients, with an overall score of 8.95 (out of 10) for effectiveness. Referrals also ranked number one in the 2011 and 2010 surveys.

Leads from brokers (scored a 5.6) and Events (5.26) ranked second and third, respectively, as most effective marketing strategies, which remained unchanged from 2011. Online lead generation services (5.19) ranked fourth, jumping four positions from the 2011 survey. Email Campaigns (4.92) and Featured Listings (4.91) swapped positions from the 2011 survey and came in fifth and sixth, respectively.

Postcards and Mailers (4.9) were bumped down from sixth in the 2011 survey to seventh. However, it scored half a point higher in 2012. Craigslist (4.3) and Youtube (4.1) ranked eighth and ninth, respectively. Youtube scored 0.6 points higher than in 2011, helping it jump three spots.

In the 2011 survey, Social Media sites like Facebook and Twitter were grouped into one category. In 2012, each site stood on its own. Overall in 2011, Social Media scored a 3.8. In 2012, Facebook (4.0) ranked 10th, Google+ (3.7) ranked 12th, LinkedIn (3.61) ranked 14th and Twitter (3.43) ranked 19th. The average of these scores is 3.69.

Blogging (3.91) ranked 11th in 2012. This represents a 0.62 increase and a jump of two spots from 2011.

“Despite the hype of social media as an effective marketing outlet, real estate professionals once again voted referrals as the most effective and most preferred form of marketing,” said Louis Cammarosano, General Manager of HomeGain. “Also coming in ahead of social media were in person events, like open houses, mailing of post cards and online lead generation services.”

Top Effective Marketing Strategies for Real Estate Professionals in 2012:

In any transaction two parties assign relative values to what they are exchanging. A purchaser of a cup of coffee at Starbucks values the coffee more than the three dollars in his pocket and Starbucks values the three dollars more than the coffee it is selling.

The pricing of goods and services has been established in this manner for centuries. Some people will not pay three dollars for a cup of coffee, but others will. Starbucks determines how much it will charge and consumers how much they will pay through the price discovery mechanism of the free market.

In recent times, a new form of exchange has emerged that the price discovery mechanism of the free market has not yet fully tested.

These new forms of exchange involve companies giving away products and services for free.

We can refer to these business practices as the freemium or freeluxe models.

Freeluxe/Freemium

Under the freemium model a company gives away a product that is either feature, time, capacity or customer service limited with the goal of eventually charging the customer for full use of the product. Examples of this model include Pandora and Flickr.

The freeluxe model, in contrast, starts with no limitations on product usage and its business model does not depend on ever charging the user. Examples of freeluxe business models include Google, Facebook, Twitter and You Tube. The user has full access to all features of the products and never pays the company in exchange for their usage.

Gmail- A Freeluxe model that works

Under the freeluxe model the company offers the product and the consumer “exchanges” his use of the product in return.

The consumer deems the value received from using Google’s Gmail sufficient to his consent to use it.

Google in turn through the consumers’ use of the Gmail product receives a plethora of information about its users that it can then employ in the individual and in the aggregate to determine user behavior and preferences to sell advertising.

The relative monetary value that consumers place on their consent to use products like Gmail is nothing. But should it be? Should the consumer ask to be paid to use products such as Gmail?

Sound ridiculous? Perhaps Google one day WILL pay consumers to use its products-especially in areas that he has not gained market share-think Google Plus or the defunct Google Buzz.

On Monday July 16, 2012, Louis Cammarosano, General Manager of HomeGain, was a guest on the Real Estate 360 Live radio show on The Big Talker 1580 WHFS AM, hosted by Ryan Sloper.

Listen to the show.

Part 1 (14:50)

Louis and Ryan speculate whether the Fed will institute another round of quantitative easing. Ryan notes that there is not much more the Fed can do to stimulate spending. Louis argues that encouraging consumption is not the answer but rather savings that can be invested in productive endeavors. Louis predicts that the Fed will not institute QE3 until after the election.

Louis notes that encouraging people to go back to school and take out more debt is not a good idea, but that helps the banks as the loans are guaranteed by the government. Louis questions whether there is a demand for more educated workers and argues for higher interest rates. Louis notes that the sovereigns do not want higher rates as it increases their debt service payments.

Louis notes that the low interest rates cause over investment in the stock market. Louis and Ryan discuss the Facebook valuation. Louis and Ryan discuss how competition weeds out even the strongest companies over time.

Ryan and Louis talk about how homebuyers can benefit from low mortgage interest rates. Louis notes that mainstream media is mostly national and not local. In light of this Louis recommends speaking with a local REALTOR or mortgage professional to get accurate local information.Continue reading this post

On Monday May 14, 2012, Louis Cammarosano, General Manager of HomeGain, was a guest on the Real Estate 360 Live radio show on The Big Talker 1580 WHFS AM, hosted by Ryan Sloper.

Listen to the show.

Part 1 (14:47)

Ryan notes that one of the Facebook co-founders is renouncing his US citizenship to avoid taxation. Louis notes that the US is the only country that lays a claim on its citizens’ world wide income. Louis notes that if the US wants to be competitive world wide they need to reconsider their taxation policies.Louis that for over 100 years people from all over the world wanted to come to the United States.

Louis notes that the powers in Europe are spending a lot of money to keep Greece in the Euro. Louis notes that RE Radio discusses events in Europe because they have a direct impact on US interest rates. Louis notes that opposition parties in Europe are against austerity programs and that the situation in Europe helps the US as Europe has to debase the Euro by printing more money to bail out its member states. Louis notes that the US is also in the race to debase.

Louis notes that JP Morgan’s losses are probably greater than the $2 billion stated. Louis notes that this situation may pose the need for another bailout, which if were to occur would probably drive more investors into the “safety” of US treasuries and drive interest rates lower.

Louis notes that the journalist coverage of JP Morgan’s trading loss is general and that the specifics are not know. Louis speculates that the loss if probably far greater than reported to date. Louis notes that JP Morgan’s CEO Jamie Dimon is on the board of the NY Federal Reserve. Louis notes that the Federal Reserve is a private bank. Louis notes that depositors don’t keep tabs on their banks’ trading activities because they are satisfied with FDIC insurance. Louis notes the revolving door between the big banks and the US government.

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